Mali reported its first case of Ebola late on Thursday, marking a major setback for West African efforts to contain the deadly virus that now has affected six countries in the region and left nearly 5,000 dead.
The child was tested for the virus at a hospital Wednesday in the Malian town of Kayes, which is about 600 kilometres from the capital, Bamako. “The sick child and the people who were in contact with her in Kayes were immediately identified and taken care of,” Ousmane Kone, Mali’s Health Minister said.
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that Ebola now has killed at least 4,877 people and infected 9,936 across West Africa. Nearly all the cases and deaths, though, have occurred in three countries Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Like the reported case in Mali, neighbouring Senegal also had an imported case from Guinea. Senegal and Nigeria, though, both have now been declared Ebola-free after no new cases emerged after 42 days.
